Therapeutic Feedback with the MMPI-2

by Richard W. Levak

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Author: Richard W. Levak

Publisher: Routledge

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0415884918
ISBN 13: 978-0415884914

Therapeutic Feedback with the MMPI-2 provides the clinician with empirically-based, practical information about how to convey the abundance of information in the MMPI-2 profile in a way that is collaborative, empathic, hopeful, and facilitates a therapeutic alliance. Readers will find this book to be as useful and applicable as the MMPI-2 itself, which is used in psychiatric hospitals; correctional settings; in evaluations for job selection, general medicine, forensic and child custody cases; and even in screenings for television, game, and reality shows. The authors expand upon this already robust test by demonstrating how therapeutic assessment and feedback can be improved upon by considering three contributions from positive psychology:

that behavior can be viewed as potentially adaptive; traditional pathological and maladaptive behaviors can be reframed as understandable responses to stressors
that therapeutic feedback is empathic, nonjudgmental, and mostly jargon free; humans respond to overwhelming stress in understandable ways that the therapist can give coherence and meaning to
lastly, that therapeutic feedback stresses self-esteem and resilience building through self-awareness as a goal.

Discussion centers around ten scales and 27 common code types. Each section addresses the complaints, thoughts, emotions, traits and behaviors associated with the profile; therapists’ notes; lifestyle and family background; modifying scales; therapy and therapeutic pitfalls; feedback statements; and treatment and self-help suggestions. The larger page size reflects the size of the MMPI-2 interpretive reports and makes it easy for clinicians to copy pages of the book to share with their clients. Therapeutic Feedback with the MMPI-2 is the most detailed volume available on MMPI-2 feedback and is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any clinician who uses this test.

Review

“Therapists wishing to make an impact in helping their clients understand and resolve their problems need to be aware of the nature and extent of difficulties their client is experiencing. There is no better way to provide clients with a valuable perspective than to ask them directly through a self-report personality questionnaire like the MMPI-2. This book, Therapeutic Feedback with the MMPI-2: A Positive Psychology Approach by Drs. Levak, Siegel, and Nichols, with Dr. Stolberg, all notable experts on psychological assessment with the MMPI-2, and broad in clinical practice, is an excellent place to learn the client feedback method. I strongly recommend this book as a must-read for assessment psychologists.” - James N. Butcher, Emeritus Professor, University of Minnesota, USA

“The authors approach actuarial and clinical data with a fresh perspective that describes and interprets personality in client-centered terms. Until recently, feedback has been the forgotten stepchild of personality assessment with the MMPI-2. This work fills a glaring gap in MMPI-2 assessment and serves, not only as a guide to using feedback in a positive way, but also provides a remarkable example of the description of personality functioning in general. There is nothing else out there like it; this book is destined to become a classic.” - Philip A. Marks, PhD, retired clinical psychologist, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University, USA

“Lewak, Siegel, Nichols and Stolberg offer a valuable blueprint for providing sensitive, person-centered, solution-generating MMPI-2 feedback; in essence, they supply the words for engaging in a meaningful dialogue with the client and mobilizing his or her positive potential. Included in their descriptions are rarely discussed strengths associated with MMPI-2 scores and codetypes and resilience-enhancing recommendations. This is an excellent resource for personality assessment practitioners, instructors, and graduate students.” - Radhika Krishnamurthy, PsyD, ABAP, Florida Institute of Technology, USA

"The authors have done a splendid job of developing MMPI-2 interpretations that are user friendly, empathic, connected to the client’s experience, and are likely to facilitate client change. This is an essential and much needed development in research and practice. I highly recommend this book to any professional involved with psychological assessment.” - Gary Groth-Marnat, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Psychology, California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego, USA

“This comprehensive textbook will expand any reader’s bandwidth of understanding MMPI code patterns and their relationship to psychopathology and, more importantly, the subjective world of individuals with psychological profiles captured by the MMPI-2. It gives therapists and diagnosticians detailed information that is critical for them to understand their clients’ experiences of themselves and others. From the complaints, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to the lifestyle and family background of individuals producing code patterns, these authors have eloquently described the nature of personality functioning and make what otherwise might be complex material quite easy to grasp and digest. This text, with its recommendations for interpreting profiles in an emphatic and useful way for clients, will become an immediate classic―one that every personality assessor should have on their shelf if they utilize the MMPI-2." - Dr. Alan Friedman, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, USA

About the Author

Richard W. Levak, PhD, (also known as Richard Lewak) is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Del Mar, California. He specializes in personality assessment and feedback, and marital counseling. He is the coauthor of Psychological Assessment with the MMPI-2 and Therapist Guide to the MMPI & MMPI-2.

Liza Siegel, PhD, is a consulting psychologist specializing in assessment with the MMPI-2. She currently works as a consulting psychologist for television shows such as Survivor, and The Apprentice.

David S. Nichols, PhD, is a respected researcher and the author of numerous publications on the MMPI-2.

Ronald A. Stolberg, PhD, is an assistant professor at Alliant International University and a clinical psychologist. He specializes in children and adolescents at risk and psychological assessments.

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